A high-altitude tragedy unfolded yesterday on Mont Maudit, the “Cursed Mountain” in the Mont Blanc massif, as an avalanche submerged a group of climbers, killing nine, injuring eleven and leaving two Britons and two Germans missing. French police sources later said that the four climbers believed all day to be missing were alive and had not been with the roped party that was overwhelmed. The missing climbers explained to Chamonix police that two had pulled out of the group while the other two had chosen a different route. The victims are three Britons, three Germans, two Spaniards and a Swiss. French authorities have suspended the search, which will get under way again on Friday [today - Ed.] “if weather conditions permit”, said Colonel Franēois of the Chamonix gendarmerie.

CAUSE OF AVALANCHE – There are two possible causes for the Mont Blanc avalanche. It may have been provoked by a collapsing serac or by another roped party disturbing the snow.

ALARM – The alarm was raised at dawn on Thursday morning when one of the injured climbers phoned for help. The group, which was split into roped parties, was hit on the French part of the massif by an avalanche that locals describe as “the most lethal of recent years”. At least twenty people were involved in the incident, which took place on a popular route that leads to Mont Blanc. Several rescue units rushed to the scene of the avalanche to assist the victims.

EYEWITNESS – “I saw the avalanche break away from the middle of the slope and engulf about twenty people, who were dragged down the mountain. It made a huge roaring noise. I was below the slope and immediately rushed over to help the survivors get out of the snow”. This account of events comes from a Spanish climber who escaped the tragedy. As the mayor of Chamonix, Erik Fournier, was told, the Spaniard had been only a short distance away when the avalanche started. The climber goes on: “The first thing I did was assist the injured. There were a lot of bodies in the snow. We raised the alarm and tried to help those that were still alive”. A mortuary chapel has been set up at Chamonix for victims’ families.

THE CURSED MOUNTAIN – The French authorities have opened an inquiry to ascertain the causes of the avalanche on Mont Maudit, whose highest peak is 4,465 metres and which is part of the “three mountains” route along with Mont Blanc de Tacul and Mont Blanc. Mont Maudit was first climbed on 12 September 1878 by Henry Seymour Hoare and William Edward Davidson. Since then, thousands of mountaineers have tackled the ascent but not all of them have been able to reach the summit. The worst series of accidents was in August 1997 when thirteen climbers lost their lives. The following year, again in August, two Spanish mountaineers died during a descent. In the same month, a 25-year-old Polish climber died crossing the glacier from Mont Maudit to the peak of Mont Blanc. Then in May 2000, two Alpine skiers were buried by an avalanche on their way up Mont Maudit. And the long list of victims goes on.